West Virginia State University withstood a second-half rally to beat the Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team 61-55 Wednesday night in its home-opener at the Sports Center.

Pitt-Johnstown trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, but pulled to within one point after three quarters.

The Mountain Cats, 1-2 overall, could get no closer than four points in the decisive fourth quarter.

Forward Ashley Norling's two free throws with 17 seconds left pulled Pitt-Johnstown to within 59-55, but Hannah Shriver's two free throws with 10 seconds remaining sealed the win for the Yellow Jackets, who improved to 3-0. 

Norling led Pitt-Johnstown with 16 points and nine rebounds. Guard Makalyn Clapper had 11 points and six rebounds, forward Cassidy Crawford had 10 points and eight rebounds and guard Olivia Fasick added 10 points.

Ten different players scored for West Virginia State, ranked No. 10 in the Division II Atlantic Region poll. Hannah Shriver led the way with 10 points, while Shelby Harmeyer, Payton Shears and Zakorrah Russell had eight each.

The Mountain Cats, who have dropped two in a row, used a 17-9 advantage in the third quarter and pulled within 43-42 on Fasick's 3-pointer with 2:09 left.

Crawford's two layups and two free throws led the Mountain Cats' third-quarter surge. She scored the first four points of the third quarter and hit another shot at the 5:09 mark.

West Virginia State shot 41.2 percent (21 of 51) for the game, but just 27.3 percent from 3-point range (6 of 22). Pitt-Johnntown shot 32.3 percent (21 of 65) from the floor and 18.2 percent from behind the arc (4 of 22). The Mountain Cats had 28 turnovers to the Yellow Jackets' 24.

Pitt-Johnstown shot just 31.3 percent (10  of 32) from the floor and 22.2 percent (2 of 9) from behind the arc in the first half and trailed 34=25 at the intermission. 

Norling led Pitt-Johnstown with seven points and five rebounds in the first half and Clapper added six points and four rebounds. 

Pitt-Johnstown overcame a cold-shooting first quarter and pulled within 18-14 less than two minutes into the second quarter as Peyton Alazaus hit a 3-pointer and Clapper connected on a jump shot.

The Yellow Jackets quickly bounced back, and Caroline Scott's 3-pointer at the 7:36 mark gave them an 11-point lead, 25-14.

The Mountain Cats' 11-2 run, fueled by two Kylah Franklin jumpers, layups by Norling and Clapper and a 3-pointer by Fasick at the 4:21 mark sliced West Virginia State's lead to 27-25.

But the Yellow Jackets scored the final eight points of the quarter to regain a nine-point halftime lead at 34-25.

In the opening quarter, the Yellow Jackets raced to a 14-2 advantage at the 3:29 mark, keyed by 3-pointers from Alana Kramer, Shelby Harmeyer and Z.Z. Russell.

But the Mountain Cats finished on a 7-4 run to end the quarter to pull within nine points at 18-9.

Norling's 3-point play, Clapper's two free throws and Fasick's jumper keyed the rally for Pitt-Johnstown, which made just 3 of 19 shots in the opening quarter.
 
Pitt-Johnstown will host a non-conference game against Bloomsburg University at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Sports Center,